Row over BBC transgender programme aimed at children

A row has erupted over a BBC sex change programme for children as young as six, which follows a transgender schoolboy who takes sex-change drugs.

The show, available on the CBBC website, showcases an 11-year-old’s struggle to secure hormones that will make it easier to have a sex-change later in life by stunting puberty.

But campaigners have argued that exposing young minds to such controversial issues will only leave children "utterly confused", the Mail on Sunday reported.

A mother, writing on the Mumsnet website, said her daughter had questioned her gender identity and asked her "anxiously, if that means she was a boy".

But the BBC said it was aiming to "reflect true life" with enough context for young people to understand.

'Completely inappropriate'

Peter Bone, a Conservative MP, said: “It beggars belief that the BBC is making this programme freely available to children as young as six. I entirely share the anger of parents who just want to let children be children.

“It is completely inappropriate for such material to be on the CBBC website and I shall be writing to BBC bosses to demand they take it down as soon as possible.”

The earlier you teach your children that everyone is different and that nobody is ‘normal’ the betterParent

Maria Miller, the former culture secretary, said she was worried about whether the BBC was tackling the subject in "an age-appropriate way", as she argued such a topic should be addressed "where children can have support from parents".

Julian Brazier, Tory MP, told the publication: “This programme is very disappointing and inappropriate. Children are very impressionable and this is going to confuse and worry them.”

Norman Wells, a family campaigner, said: “It is irresponsible of the BBC to introduce impressionable children as young as six to the idea that they can choose to be something other than their biological sex.”

Just A Girl documents the life of a child who calls herself "Amy". In her fictional video diary, Amy, who dresses as a girl, explained how she was born a boy called Ben but is already in the process of halting puberty.

Opponents of the use of drugs that stunt puberty argue most youngsters who grow confused about their sexuality in the end do not go through with surgery and many discover they were gay.

Critics have said that promoting the idea of easy sex change surgeries and the use of drugs is only leaving children "utterly confused’"

Mr Wells told the Mail on Sunday: “The more we promote the idea that a boy can be born into a girl’s body and a girl can be born into a boy’s body, and that drugs and surgery can put things right, the more children will become utterly confused. Respecting and preserving a child’s birth sex should be seen as a child protection issue.”

The earlier you teach, the better

However, not all parents are opposed to such views on gender. A parent wrote on Mumsnet: “I don’t believe there is ‘too young’ for stuff like this. The earlier you teach your children that everyone is different and that nobody is ‘normal’ the better.”

A BBC spokesman said: “Just A Girl is about a fictional transgender character trying to make sense of the world, deal with bullying and work out how to keep her friends, which are universal themes that many children relate to, and which has had a positive response from our audience.

“CBBC aims to reflect true life, providing content that mirrors the lives of as many UK children as possible.”